Pilot Claiming "Adjustment Disorder-Induced Murder" Found Not Guilty | Joanna Simpson Case Analysis

well this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Joanna Simpson just a reminder I'm not diagnosing about this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoyed this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon I'll put the link to patreon in the description for this video first I'll look at the background of this case move to the timeline of the crime then offer my analysis Joanna Rachel Croft Simpson was born in 1964 and lived in the United Kingdom her parents were named Christopher and Diana she had a brother named James Joanna's family was wealthy they moved to the Isle of Man when she was 10 years old Joanna eventually graduated from college with a degree in business and married an insurance worker this marriage ended after three years in 1998 Joanna went on a vacation to South Africa where she met a man named Robert Brown Robert was a pilot for British Airways Joanna was introduced to him by a friend of hers who worked for the airline they became romantically involved and Robert proposed in late 1998 Joanna's family members and friends did not like Robert they felt as though he was unpleasant arrogant and miserable they did not understand what Joanna saw in him before Joanna and Robert married on February 13 1999 Robert signed a prenuptial agreement which prevented him from getting access to Joanna's money in the event of a divorce like most people who get married Joanna had high hopes for the marriage she believed that she would be with Robert forever in marriages that involve a narcissistic spouse it sometimes takes the other spouse a long time to figure it out like in the beginning it can be difficult to spot the narcissistic characteristics that was not the case in this particular marriage Joanna actually detected Robert's narcissism on her honeymoon she called her mother and said that Robert was extremely rude to the hotel staff Joanna also indicated that she had made a terrible mistake by marrying him a month after acknowledging this error Joanna became pregnant and decided to stick with the marriage she had a son named Alex a year and a half later she had a daughter named Katie Joanna was not a fan of Robert but she loved her children and she thought that they would be better off in a family that stay together the family lived in Joanna's house in Ascot a wealthy area about an hour west of London for many years Joanna suffered at the hands of Robert he would regularly insult her and put her down he had a particular affinity for doing this when she was in front of her friends he was dismissive and rude just about all the time after almost eight years of marriage Joanna had enough in January 2007 she spoke to an attorney about divorcing Robert Robert's behavior only became worse after this in February 2007 he called Joanna and said that he was having dark thoughts and was thinking about killing her and their two children with an ax He also mentioned that he might crash an airplane that he was piloting presumably the airplane would be occupied by other people a few months later Robert accused Joanna of having an affair he retrieved a large carving knife and held it to her chest while holding her neck with his other hand this was the last straw for Joanna the marriage came to an end in July 2007 Joanna filed for the equivalent of a restraining order she said that Robert's Behavior had become increasingly frightening as the marriage was disintegrating Joanna was very afraid of what Robert would do to her and due to the children Robert agreed to stay away from the house and ask Scott but he would often hang around as if to prove that he could do it without getting in trouble for example he would put his foot on the door when dropping off or picking up the children during this tense period the cables to Joanna's surveillance camera system were cut her security lights were disabled in the same manner the divorce proceedings dragged on for several years Robert was not happy with the amount of money he would be getting he felt as though Joanna had put him in a bad position with the prenuptial agreement he accused her of being a master manipulator who had played with his emotions and put him in an untenable financial situation as the divorce continued Robert was required to turn over a list of credit card transactions it was clear from these records that he had purchased surveillance equipment like he was spying on Joanna when he was questioned by the court Robert said that he had purchased a tracking device to put on his wife's vehicle Joanna was afraid that she was never going to be free of Robert even after the divorce she worried that he would simply continue harassing her and maybe even worse as far as the validity of Robert's case a major issue in the divorce proceedings was ownership of the family house Joanna had actually purchased a house and renovated it years before meeting Robert everyone assumed that the court was going to award Joanna the house as long as the prenuptial agreement was upheld the divorce case found itself at a turning point in October 2010 another case related to a prenuptial agreement was in front of a higher Court the court that was hearing the brown divorce delayed rendering a decision until the higher Court decided on the validity of prenuptial agreements on October 20 the higher Court found a prenuptial agreement to be binding Robert knew that this would undoubtedly have a negative impact on his chances of victory in his case four days later on October 24 Joanna offered Robert 500 000 pounds to settle the divorce he refused her offer despite knowing that he was going to be defeated in court now moving to the timeline of the crime on October 31 2010 at 4 pm 47 year old Robert arrived at the house and asked Scott which he once shared with 46 year old Joanna he had their two children with him and he was dropping them off to Joanna the children made their way to the family room as Robert and Joanna stood in a hallway Robert retrieved a claw hammer from a bag and struck Joanna at least 14 times Joanna did not survive the attack Robert wrapped her in a plastic sheet and placed her body in the back of his vehicle Robert loaded his children into the vehicle as well as they were driving away his son Alex asked Robert if he was quote taking mummy to the hospital unquote Robert dropped his children off with his current girlfriend Stephanie while he was there he retrieved a few items from his garage including overalls plastic shoe coverings and duct tape Robert drove to Windsor Great Park where he had already prepared a grave he placed Joanna's body in a plastic crate and placed the crate in the grave he then covered the grave with dirt Robert returned to the house in Ascot and removed the surveillance camera system and disconnected the phone the next day at 8 34 am Robert called the police and reported a domestic issue he told the operator that he wanted to make an appointment to come in after being asked what happened Robert explained how his lawyer told him not to say anything because the incident was of a serious nature after a brief discussion the operator asked if the incident had occurred recently Robert said yes yes last night the operator said right and you're both okay are you none of you are harmed at all are you Robert responded well one person is the operator gave Robert an appointment for that afternoon as the police investigated after visiting Joanna's residence and getting no response at the door officers forced entry they found blood in the house Robert was arrested after arriving at the police station on November 4 Robert confessed to killing Joanna the next day he directed the police to the location where he had buried her in May 2011 Robert went to trial he testified in his own defense he appeared to be crying some of the time he once again admitted that he killed Joanna but he said that he had diminished responsibility due to adjustment disorder on May 24 Robert was found not guilty of murder he was found guilty of manslaughter and obstructing a corner in the execution of his duty the judge was clearly confused by the jury's verdict and sentenced Robert to the maximum 24 years in prison for manslaughter and two years for the obstruction charge Robert will automatically be released after serving half of his sentence so after 13 years no mental health evaluation is required in order for him to be released this would not have been the case if he was convicted of murder Robert will be released in November of 2023 although many people have contacted lawmakers in an effort to prevent this from happening now moving to my analysis here are my thoughts in a few areas that stood out to me in this case item number one as I mentioned Robert's defense was based on having adjustment disorder he argued that Joanna treated him so poorly that he developed this disorder adjustment disorder is kind of a catch-all diagnosis that basically means stress is causing symptoms it's a real disorder that causes suffering but generally these symptoms severity is lower than with other disorders like major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder adjustment disorder has no association with psychosis or violence to call Robert's defense week is being quite generous his defense is the equivalent of a person calling out sick to their employer saying that they just had a haircut and their hair hurts too much to work that day item number two despite the laughable nature of Robert's defense the jury was quite impressed they found him to be charming and they were entranced by the fact that he was a pilot Robert was able to tell his side the story with no interference from Joanna because he had killed her he portrayed his murder victim as a wealthy manipulator who railroaded him into marriage and criticized everything he did wrong he accused her of having an affair and said the prenuptial agreement had afforded her too much protection for her money it sounds like Robert was simply pretending that Joanna did exactly what he did that made it easier for him to tell the lies he just had to switch places with her and relay the story without knowing it Robert was showing the jury exactly what he did to Joanna namely the gaslighting but unfortunately they didn't pick up on it as far as his State of Mind during the murder Robert told the jury quote I just lost it I just burst and that's it I just blew and the next thing I remember I was standing over Joe and there was blood all over the place unquote even though the jury liked Robert it's still astonishing that they overlooked the evidence supporting premeditation for example Robert Doug a grave for Joanna before he killed her he hit a shovel under a tarp near the grave and he brought a hammer with him to the house in addition his behavior after the fact does not help his case like disposing of Joanna's body and destroying evidence of the crime scene in my opinion Robert should have been convicted of murder this is one of the most incomprehensible jury decisions I've ever seen Robert was able to manipulate the jury with the same Effectiveness evident in his early relationship with Joanna unlike Joanna the jury never gained insight and realized that Robert was dangerous amazingly they were unable to learn from her journey the jury knew how Joanna felt about Robert yet they still did not understand what that meant item number three when Robert and Joanna were married many people observed several narcissistic and Psychopathic characteristics in him he was described as rude dismissive controlling unpleasant intolerable grandiose vindictive manipulating deceptive Moody unlikable and obnoxious essentially he was despised by just about everyone who knew his wife Joanna he went out of his way to be offensive to her friends and family members Robert was highly critical of Joanna he talked about how much he didn't like her cooking he disapproved of her parenting style nothing she did was ever good enough when Robert was away for his job as a pilot he would use a home security system to monitor his wife for example he would track what time she arrived home and went to bed according to Joanna's mother Robert once knocked over a soup bowl which broke upon impact with the floor he didn't even bother stopping or turning around much less apologizing Joanna apologized for him she often made excuses for Robert praising his good characteristics and ignoring the negative ones item number four like many people with narcissistic characteristics Robert had superficial charm he would Dazzle people with his Pilot status and his British accent attracted positive attention one time when he was in the United States a man who he met said that Robert had a real James Bond Vibe about him superficial charm can be extremely effective in the short run but it always fails in the long run I think this is another element that may have affected the verdict in this case the jury fell for his charm if they had more time to observe him they would have learned to distrust him now moving to my final thoughts the relationship between Robert and Joanna took off as if it was powered by a jet engine and there was a Tailwind believing the sky was the limit Joanna was in first class and on cloud nine what she did not know is that Robert was flying under the radar and determined to enter a tailspin the turbulence he brought would put their marriage in a nosedive before Joanna could safely land the troubled aircraft of her marriage it crashed and burned despite having access to the flight data recorder the jury had their heads stuck on the clouds those are my thoughts in the case of Joanna Simpson please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always I hope you found my analysis of this topic to be informative thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

Views: 80,091

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Id: -21rxm88sQc

Length: 15min 27sec (927 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2023